Elder Worm
The Elder Worms are an evil race of bipedal worms in the Champions Online roleplaying universe. Biology The body of an Elder Worm is slimy and flexible, it's a worm-like body shaped like a humanoid with a conical head that lacks a mouth. Elder Worms take sustenance by absorbing the nutrients through their skin, drinking liquid nutrients through a specialized tentacle, or by telepathically feeding on the lifeforce of a sentient lifeform that is suffering. Elder Worms have an average lifespan of 120 years and communicate with each other telepathically. Like humans, some Elder Worms are born with superhuman powers or develop them later on, and their powers can be as varied and powerful as those of a human super-being. Elder Worms emit a non-lethal acid from their hands which permits them to burrow through rock as fast as if they were running. Reproduction is done through a budding process, asexually. Once the bud separates, the Elder Worm is basically incapacitated for months. During this time, a bond is created between the "parent" and its "offspring" that is far more powerful than the one between a human parent and its offspring. Culture Elder Worms have their own art, decor, and architecture, but to most sentient races it is horrifying and grotesque. Qlipothic entities are worshiped by the Elder Worm and in exchange for the sacrificing of sentient lifeforms to these entities, the Elder Worms receive gifts of power. All Elder Worms are loyal to the emperor, fanatically so. The emperor in turn is both a sorcerer and an absolute ruler. History Origins The civilization of the Elder Worms is 800,000 years old. Like Earth their homeworld was divided into rival states until 750,000 years ago when it was unified by a conqueror. By the time of the unification, the Elder Worms had already colonized several of the worlds in their solar system. The united Elder Worm race then began to expand across the stars via use of faster-than-light quasi-mystical engines. Magic was employed to locate sentient worlds that were suitable for conquest and for sacrifice to their Qlipothic gods, and their fleets of warships were deployed to subjugate those worlds. The Elder Worms have sacrificed billions of sentient beings to the Qlipothic entities, and in a few cases whole worlds. Billions were sacrificed to their gods, even whole worlds. They had conquered half the Milky Way galaxy by 500,000 BC. Malvan War The Elder Worm empire was not the only growing interstellar empire in the galaxy as they were to discover up on meeting the humanoid Malvans. An agreement was made by the two expanding powers, to divide up the galaxy. There was peace between the two, until an aggressive Malvan emperor violated the agreement. Which resulted in a war, one that lasted 300,000 years and engulfed the whole galaxy. Trillions of lives were lost, numerous civilizations were annihilated, and the devastation swept the whole galaxy. The two roughly equal empires fought each other to a stalemate. The Malvans had the advantage of superior technology, longevity, and the Super Hunters (superhumans with powerful weapons). Balancing that out was the fact that the Elder Worms had incredibly powerful magic that gave them the ability to cast spells that would turn Malvan against each other, rituals that would destroy Malvan fleets, and even summoning Qlipothic beings which were the size of planetoids. On top of that they had their own superhumans, born with super powers or equipped with arcane weapons. The battles that raged between squadrons of super beings devastated entire star systems. Finally the tide turned in 267,584 BC and by 267,584 BC the Malvans had ended the Elder Worm empire and shattered their homeworld. The Elder Worms did not go quietly into the night though and were able to have their revenge by casting a spell on the Malvans. An extremely slowly acting spell which took thousands of years to complete, draining the racial vitality of the Malvans and transforming them into a lazy, corrupt, and decadent race who lived only for entertainment and pleasure. Aftermath When the Elder Worms ruled half our galaxy, they numbered in the trillions. Now only millions remain, perhaps only thousands and they are scattered across the Milky Way galaxy. They saved many warships and hid them, and if they were to unite their forces it would be one of the most powerful fleets in this galaxy. Fortunately not only are they a scattered people but they are also extremely divided. Today the Elder Worms rule only a few worlds, planets which were hidden by sorcery or forgotten and missed by the Malvan during their final campaigns, and they are kept secret. On pre-historic Earth a group of Elder Worm survivors landed and the proto-humans were enslaved by them. Eventually they rose up in rebellion against the Elder Worms, assisted by extraterrestrials and slaughtered most of the Elder Worms. A few survived and once again they scattered, hiding throughout Earth. For millennia, the Elder Worms have been without a leader but a descendant of the emperor bloodline has appeared. He is known to Earth's heroes as the villain Slug. It dreams of conquering Earth, turning its inhabitants into Elder Worms, and then going forward into the stars in a wave of conquest. Throughout the cosmos, all the Elder Worms sense that a new leader has emerged and they await his arrival. Technology Elder Worm technology is psionic in nature and combines both technology and enchanted items. They are able to travel faster-than-light by quasi-mystical engines which create mystic gates, that results in a type of teleportation. Within a solar system, it gives the Elder Worms a decisive advantage as its almost instantaneous. For interstellar trips its a disadvantage as it takes time to prepare an interstellar gate. The weapons of Elder Worms are either partially or completely mystical, such as the arcanobeams that their starships fire. It's a purely mystical weapon that is terrifyingly effective and devastating. Most sentient races find their Eldritch starships to be disgusting and horrifying unnatural creations. Category: Science Fantasy Villains Category: Gamebooks Villains Category: Book Villains Category: Mongers Category: Imperialists Category: Genocidal Category: Hegemony Category: Slaver Category: Tyrants Category: Aliens Category: Oppressors Category: Hostile Species Category: Cults Category: Lawful Evil Category: Destroyers Category: Summoners Category: Magic Category: Dark Priests Category: Champions Online Villains Category:Video Game Villains Category:Brutes Category:Humanoid Category:Military Category:Psychics Category:Power Hungry